Homeless campers given deadline

Friday

May 22, 2009 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - Authorities taped notices to tents and fences and stapled them to trees Thursday morning, advising homeless people who continue to camp on California Department of Transportation property under and along downtown freeways that they have until Tuesday to leave.

Jennifer Torres

STOCKTON - Authorities taped notices to tents and fences and stapled them to trees Thursday morning, advising homeless people who continue to camp on California Department of Transportation property under and along downtown freeways that they have until Tuesday to leave.

California Highway Patrol officers and Caltrans workers tried, as they walked among worn blankets and spent campfires, to talk with homeless people, and Stockton City Councilwoman Susan Eggman accompanied them to distribute information about local shelters and other assistance.

"The harder they are to find, they easier they are to prey upon," Eggman said.

Three months ago, Caltrans dismantled an encampment under the Crosstown Freeway along South Lincoln Street, worrying some advocates who said homeless people would move to more dangerous locations under the freeway. A task force on homelessness was formed and has met several times since then. But developing new ways to address the problem has proved complicated, involving a number of government and nonprofit agencies and organizations, many with differing experiences, priorities and approaches.

Still, Eggman said, Thursday's walk through homeless campsites offered some evidence of progress - there was a more deliberate effort, she said, to talk to homeless people about help available to them.

Officer Sid Miller of the California Highway Patrol said the clearing out of homeless camps scattered throughout the areas under Interstate 5 and the Crosstown Freeway was motivated by safety concerns; recently, the CHP has received increasing numbers of calls about pedestrians on the freeway, he said.

The first place authorities visited Thursday was a campsite visible from the northbound Interstate 5 onramp, on the berm between the freeway and Mormon Slough. The area had been cleared out about six weeks ago.

"These are all new tents," Caltrans spokesman Bob Boswell said.

Terry Reeve and George Meure said they left the site when they were told to last month but have since returned.

"OK, gentlemen," Miller told them. "Just understand that you may be prosecuted if we come back and you're still here."